Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

152 reviews

thebookraiders's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, and Cannibalism

Minor: Blood, Death, Gore, Cursing, Rape, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Confinement, and Gun violence

sharron_joy_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Devon is a book eater, vampire like creatures who consume books instead of food. Growing up she is fed a steady controlled diet of what is expected of her as one of the rare female book eater. There are six families and their numbers are dwindling and she is needed to breed.

When she gives birth to Cai, a rare mind eater she runs with him to save him.

 

This is a gothic thriller in essence and although I was initially drawn to the book eating side the story is really about family, loyalty, forced marriage and motherhood in a strictly patriarchal cult like community who just happen to eat books. 

It is thought provoking but the way women and girls are treated in this world infuriated me and although Devon fights against the system her efforts are often in vain. 

 

It is an interesting story but for me it was too long and the ending felt rushed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Child abuse, Grief, and Body horror

needleclicker's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Grief

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexism, and Rape

Minor: Trafficking

semeyers's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

Oh man I am so sad by how disappointed in this book I was! This book was on my reading list forever and I was finally able to grab it. I was so excited for it.

A secret race if aliens(?) who live among humans, subsisting on eating books and absorbing the knowledge. They can learn a new language by eating a book in that language. Master skills by eating a trade manual. Catch up on history by eating a textbook.  Yet they stay to the fringes of society, forbidden from interacting with or living among humans, the Families ruled by powerful patriarchs. Women are rare in their species so the precious few that are born are kept oppressed, only allowed to eat fairytales to keep them from learning how to function in human society, and forced to birth children that they aren't allowed to raise past the age of three.  The structure of their society has remained unchanged for hundreds of years until one woman finds a way to escape.....

Sounds great, right? Too bad most of that took a backseat to the true crime thriller that the book became. So much of the book eaters lore was cast aside almost immediately, brushed over, or seemingly forgotten about

for example, in the beginning, Devon mentions that book eaters live much longer than humans and age slower - to the point where she has trouble discerning human ages. But, the book eaters throughout the novel seem to age completely normally and this is never mentioned again in that last 3/4 of the book

. The characters were one-sided and always reacted predictably. Devon somehow goes from bumbling around barely able to survive in human society to essentially a professional spy in 18 months. Devon's relationship with her son is so much more of a friendship than a parent-child relationship that the mentions from other characters of how motherly and amazing their bond is were confusing. The characters had so much plot armor that I found myself rolling my eyes more than once. The twist was fun, but the book just kind of dragged on from there until it ended abruptly. 

Unfortunately, one from my reading list that I just did not enjoy!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Murder

Moderate: Pregnancy

sofiaysa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

i read this book in three days, which i haven’t done in a while. it’s a very interesting read with everything crashing down at the end. devon was a little confusing as a character but i think everything cleared up in the last few chapters. a few scenes were a little predictable but still enjoyable. some aspects of the story felt brushed over or pushed aside. overall, it was a good read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Pregnancy, Violence, Emotional abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Trafficking, and Cursing

touchegiantsquid's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Brilliantly forces the reader to confront the truth that everything actually does have a price, that perfect is unobtainable, and that living in the real world requires accepting tradeoffs. Even though the main character repeatedly says there's no price on love, the plot reveals there is nothing without a price.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Gun violence, Acephobia/Arophobia, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Trafficking

kurumipanda's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, and Sexism

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Rape, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Medical content

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, and Suicidal thoughts

briely's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Death, Body horror, Pregnancy, and Violence

Minor: Trafficking, Murder, and Child death

quihi's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

I really enjoyed it once I got into it. Unfortunately, it took me two thirds of the book to get really into it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Cannibalism, Confinement, Grief, Body horror, Murder, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Abandonment, Misogyny, Child death, Gore, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Pregnancy, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcohol, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, and Acephobia/Arophobia

wellreadandhalfdead's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I was in love with the premise of this book, but not the execution. The idea of a whole race of beings that eat books and can absorb the information in them intrigued me from the get-go. However, the idea itself wasn't enough to drive the book. The pace dragged the whole book down. I love flashbacks/non-linear storytelling, but it didn't work in this instance. It stilted the story, making it awkward and unfortunately boring. There were two chapters in which the point-of-view switched from the main character, Devon, to a different character. It was jarring and seemed unnecessary in the scheme of things. The plot was not compelling enough to make me want to keep reading (but I did, obviously).

I did enjoy the characters. Cai was my favorite, he was very strange but sweet. I thought the atmosphere of the book was great; it takes place in decrepit mansions and dirty motel rooms, which gave it a mysterious feel that I could really get into. I thought the exploration of family dynamics and the entrenchment of tradition was a really cool angle to tell the story from, and I would have loved to see that explored even more, as well as the relationship between Devon and Hester. The prose was surprisingly beautiful, enough to make me want to give Dean's next book a try. 

Overall I was not impressed, but it might hit better for someone else.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Blood

Moderate: Rape and Pregnancy